North Carolina State University
2006 First-Year Student Survey:
Gender and Racial/Ethnic Comparisons
of Students' Evaluation of the Application Process
This document reports gender and racial/ethnic differences in the respondents' experiences with the application process and factors influencing their decision to attend NC State. For information about the survey and analysis methods see "2006 First-Year Student Survey: Introduction, Methods, and Student Demographic Profile". Exact question wording is available on the web or by clicking on the "Q" next to the table heading.
Number of Schools Applied To | Contacts During the Admissions Process | Factors Influencing Attendance Decision | Most Influential Factor | Satisfaction with Admissions | Virtual Advising Center Rating
| Number of colleges applied to | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One | % | 17.7 | 12.7 | 21.8 | 8.8 | 19.6 | 10.7 |
| Two | % | 23.8 | 21.5 | 25.7 | 18.5 | 24.1 | 26.2 |
| Three | % | 25.3 | 26.9 | 24.1 | 28.8 | 24.7 | 27.6 |
| Four | % | 17.4 | 20.0 | 15.3 | 21.5 | 17.2 | 15.7 |
| Five or more | % | 15.7 | 18.8 | 13.2 | 22.4 | 14.5 | 19.9 |
| Total | N | 3915 | 1746 | 2169 | 330 | 3157 | 428 |
| Yes, had contact via: | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Call from faculty/staff | % | 16.6% | 14.9% | 18.0% | 29.6% | 15.3% | 15.9% |
| Call from current student | % | 16.6% | 17.4% | 16.0% | 22.1% | 15.8% | 18.9% |
| Call from graduate | % | 5.2% | 3.8% | 6.2% | 6.0% | 5.3% | 3.3% |
| Letter from outside Admissions Office | % | 66.1% | 67.2% | 65.1% | 71.0% | 65.3% | 67.8% |
| Total | N | 3920 | 1748 | 2172 | 331 | 3160 | 429 |
Back to Top Q Factors Influencing Decision to Attend NC State
| Mean Rating: 5="very strong influence," 4="strong influence," 3="moderate influence," 2="weak influence," 1="very weak influence" |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
| Academic reputation | 4.12 | 4.15 | 4.11 | 4.33 | 4.11 | 4.06 |
| Availability of program | 3.84 | 3.81 | 3.86 | 3.93 | 3.83 | 3.84 |
| Level of support for my intended major | 3.77 | 3.62 | 3.88 | 3.73 | 3.78 | 3.69 |
| Acceptance into the First Year College program | 3.73 | 3.88 | 3.56 | 3.36 | 3.82 | 3.55 |
| Facilities and resources available | 3.69 | 3.67 | 3.71 | 3.80 | 3.69 | 3.62 |
| Location | 3.61 | 3.73 | 3.51 | 3.79 | 3.58 | 3.70 |
| Recommended by friend, etc. | 3.46 | 3.54 | 3.39 | 3.20 | 3.48 | 3.44 |
| Campus visit prior to orientation | 3.20 | 3.38 | 3.05 | 3.44 | 3.20 | 3.00 |
| Cost | 3.14 | 3.09 | 3.18 | 3.10 | 3.10 | 3.48 |
| Contact with a current student | 3.12 | 3.26 | 3.00 | 3.05 | 3.13 | 3.10 |
| Size | 3.03 | 3.15 | 2.93 | 3.22 | 3.02 | 2.94 |
| Extracurricular opportunities | 2.95 | 3.02 | 2.89 | 3.25 | 2.93 | 2.84 |
| Scholarships/financial aid available | 2.91 | 3.00 | 2.84 | 3.73 | 2.78 | 3.11 |
| Contact with a graduate | 2.88 | 2.94 | 2.83 | 2.80 | 2.91 | 2.67 |
| Campus Recreation programs | 2.80 | 2.77 | 2.82 | 2.97 | 2.78 | 2.78 |
| Contact with a faculty/staff member | 2.46 | 2.51 | 2.41 | 2.85 | 2.42 | 2.37 |
| Attendance at a college fair | 2.30 | 2.36 | 2.25 | 2.70 | 2.26 | 2.28 |
| Publications from NC State | 2.30 | 2.35 | 2.26 | 2.74 | 2.26 | 2.33 |
| Number of hours transferred/credited | 2.25 | 2.25 | 2.24 | 2.41 | 2.20 | 2.48 |
| Letter from someone other than Admissions Office | 2.18 | 2.22 | 2.15 | 2.63 | 2.13 | 2.14 |
| Other | 3.92 | 4.24 | 3.70 | 3.93 | 3.96 | 3.71 |
Back to Top Q Most Influential Factor Influencing Decision to Attend NC State
| Most influential factor | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic reputation | % | 25.6 | 24.8 | 26.3 | 35.5 | 24.8 | 24.9 |
| Level of support for my intended major | % | 15.5 | 12.0 | 18.3 | 9.2 | 16.0 | 16.2 |
| Availability of program | % | 12.6 | 10.7 | 14.1 | 13.2 | 12.6 | 12.3 |
| Location | % | 10.4 | 12.5 | 8.6 | 6.2 | 10.1 | 15.2 |
| Recommended | % | 7.3 | 8.2 | 6.6 | 3.7 | 7.9 | 5.5 |
| Scholarships/financial aid available | % | 5.4 | 5.9 | 5.0 | 12.8 | 4.5 | 6.8 |
| Cost | % | 4.7 | 3.9 | 5.3 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 5.5 |
| Facilities and resources available | % | 3.4 | 3.8 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 2.4 |
| Campus visit prior to orientation | % | 3.0 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 1.8 |
| Contact with a current student | % | 2.7 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 3.2 | 1.3 |
| Acceptance into First Year College | % | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 1.5 | 0.8 |
| Size | % | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 |
| Extracurricular opportunities | % | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 0.8 |
| Contact with a graduate | % | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| Contact with a faculty or staff member | % | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Number of hours transferred/credited | % | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Campus recreation programs | % | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Letter from someone other than admissions | % | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Attendance at a College Fair | % | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Publications from NC State | % | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Other | % | 2.7 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 2.9 | 2.9 |
| Total | N | 3466 | 1554 | 1912 | 273 | 2811 | 382 |
| Satisfaction with university admissions | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Rating | 3.46 | 3.52 | 3.41 | 3.41 | 3.48 | 3.34 | |
| 4: Very satisfied | % | 52.2 | 57.5 | 48.0 | 50.0 | 53.5 | 44.4 |
| 3: Moderately satisfied | % | 42.3 | 38.0 | 45.7 | 41.2 | 41.7 | 46.9 |
| 2: Moderately dissatisfied | % | 4.8 | 4.1 | 5.4 | 8.2 | 4.1 | 7.3 |
| 1: Very dissatisfied | % | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Total | N | 3905 | 1741 | 2164 | 328 | 3151 | 426 |
| Satisfaction with dept. admissions | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Rating | 3.42 | 3.50 | 3.36 | 3.36 | 3.44 | 3.32 | |
| 4: Very satisfied | % | 50.0 | 56.1 | 45.1 | 49.2 | 51.1 | 42.8 |
| 3: Moderately satisfied | % | 43.1 | 38.6 | 46.7 | 40.3 | 42.7 | 48.4 |
| 2: Moderately dissatisfied | % | 5.9 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 5.5 | 6.6 |
| 1: Very dissatisfied | % | 1.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Total | N | 3758 | 1666 | 2092 | 313 | 3036 | 409 |
| Satisfaction with financial aid process | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean Rating | 2.87 | 2.95 | 2.81 | 3.04 | 2.85 | 2.85 | |
| 4: Very satisfied | % | 26.7 | 30.8 | 23.5 | 43.0 | 24.5 | 26.9 |
| 3: Moderately satisfied | % | 42.2 | 41.0 | 43.1 | 29.2 | 44.0 | 41.7 |
| 2: Moderately dissatisfied | % | 22.7 | 20.3 | 24.6 | 16.7 | 23.8 | 20.4 |
| 1: Very dissatisfied | % | 8.4 | 7.9 | 8.8 | 11.1 | 7.7 | 10.9 |
| Total | N | 2945 | 1312 | 1633 | 305 | 2302 | 338 |
| Virtual advising center rating | NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | % | 8.2 | 9.1 | 7.4 | 12.2 | 8.0 | 6.5 |
| Good | % | 20.6 | 21.0 | 20.3 | 21.0 | 20.7 | 20.1 |
| Fair | % | 4.2 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 6.8 |
| Poor | % | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 |
| Know about/did not use | % | 8.5 | 9.4 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 9.3 |
| Did not know about | % | 57.8 | 56.6 | 58.9 | 54.7 | 58.4 | 56.5 |
| Total | N | 3905 | 1740 | 2165 | 329 | 3148 | 428 |
| Virtual advising center rating (Among those who have used the website, N=1,313) |
NCSU | Women | Men | AfAm | White | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | % | 24.4 | 26.8 | 22.4 | 33.1 | 24.1 | 19.2 |
| Good | % | 61.4 | 61.7 | 61.1 | 57.0 | 62.2 | 58.9 |
| Fair | % | 12.5 | 9.9 | 14.6 | 9.1 | 11.9 | 19.9 |
| Poor | % | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Total | N | 1313 | 593 | 720 | 121 | 1046 | 146 |
Dr. Nancy Whelchel, Associate Director for Survey Research
Office of Institutional Planning and Research
Box 7002
NCSU
Phone: (919) 515-4184
Email: Nancy_Whelchel@ncsu.edu
Posted: February, 2007
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